Lamb prices buoyant on buying power strength

Press, 9 January 1986, Page 12

Lamb prices buoyant on buying power strength

Strong buying power from farmers in North and Central Canterbury kept store lambs prices buoyant at the Addington market yesterday. The market had a confident air, and auctioneers had no trouble clearing a yarding of almost 11,000 lambs. The yarding was about 7000 head smaller than the previous store lamb market, before Christmas. The smaller offering, along with good feed supplies on most farms, helped keep prices fully firm with pre-Christmas rates. Big framed lambs, suitable for growing on to heavy

weights, again sold well, although ram lambs did not attract the same intense interest as before Christmas. Most good ram lambs were about $1 dearer than wethers, compared with $1.50 to $2 previously. A feature of the market was a line of more than 2000 undrafted Corriedales from the Cheddar Valley settlement at Waiau, of the Lands and Survey Department. The top pen of almost 400 wethers sold at $19.10, and others sold down to $l2. Good lambs generally made from $l6 to $lB, mediums were

$l3 to $l5 and good quality smaller lambs were $9 to $l3. Only poor lambs made less than $6. Among a very small selection of adult sheep was a line of 110 well-bred, shorn Romney ewe hoggets from K. J. and H. W. Dalglish, Le Bons Bay, which sold at $2l. Lamb sales included:— J. J. Lochhead (Omihi), 279 mixed sex Corriedales at $9.40 to $15.50; C. Tuck (Oxford), 415 mixed sex Romneys at $9.80 to $15.80; Strathmore Enterprises (Pigeon Bay), 387 mixed sex Romney cross at $11.40 to $13.20; Malabar Farm (Oxford), 208 mixed sex black-faced at $12.40 to $l4; Dalethorpe Partnership (Sheffield), 1400 Corriedale rams at $ll.lO to $16.20; L. C. Gardiner (Woodchester, Waiau), 600 South Suffolk rams at $12.40 to $l6, and 700 ewes at $12.40 to $14.70; D. P. and P. J. Graham (Ahuriri), 280 Romney wethers and rams at $14.40; Lands and Survey (Cheddar Valley, Waiau), 1755 Corriedale wethers at $l2 to $19.10, and 436 ewes at $9.30 to $13.70; D. S. Latter (Cheviot), 900 Corriedales at $6.60 to $13.20; Northcote Trust (Waiau), 402 Halfbred ewes at $6.30 to $11.20; B. D. and T. Childs (Cheviot), 327 wethers at $ll.lO to $12.90, and 65 rams at $13.20.